A (0:00)

Today is Tuesday, February 17th. We'll tell you who's impacted by another partial government shutdown and why it's not expected to end anytime soon. Also, why investigators are now working with Walmart in hopes of finding Savannah Guthrie's mother. Plus, what former President Obama says he really meant when he said aliens are real, how immigration officers are working to unmask certain social media users. And the latest upsets and triumphs from Team USA on the end stretch of the Winter Olympics. Those stories and even more news coming up. Welcome to the Newsworthy. All the day's news in less than 15 minutes. I'm Erica. Mandy, thanks so much for being here. Let's do this. Funding for the Homeland Security Department has run out and with that, the agency has shut down. As of this morning, lawmakers are showing no signs of compromise. In fact, Congress was already dismissed until next week. Remember, Democrats are demanding changes in response to enforcement tactics used in Minnesota. They say it really comes down to three objectives. Ending the Trump administration's roving ICE patrols, adding more accountability for immigration enforcement officers, and banning ICE officers from wearing masks. Many Republicans are resisting, though, saying the patrols are needed to enforce immigration law and that the masks are needed to protect agents from retaliation. So they're pushing for their own priorities, like cutting off DHS grants to jurisdictions that refuse to cooperate with ICE during the funding lapse. Immigration enforcement actually continues, as is partly because of President Trump's tax and spending cut law known as the Big Beautiful Bill act that gave billions more dollars to those agencies. The Shutdown also impacts TSA, FEMA, the Secret Service and the U.S. coast Guard. And because so much is essential, about 90% of DHS employees are supposed to keep working but without pay until the shutdown ends. If employees stop showing up for work, it could also mean long delays for Americans going through security at airports, waiting for disaster assistance, and so on. Now, to be clear, unlike the record breaking 43 day shutdown last year, this one only impacts one agency. The rest of the government is now funded through the end of this fiscal year. The search for Today show anchor Savannah Guthrie's mother has entered its third week and and as of this morning, there aren't many visible signs of significant progress. The local sheriff did start to publicly exclude several people as possible suspects, including Nancy Guthrie's three children and their spouses. Investigators are now working with Walmart since the backpack the suspect was seen wearing in surveillance footage is sold exclusively at those stores. They're also testing a glove that was found near the Guthrie home for DNA. The FBI says it received preliminary results already, but it's still waiting for official confirmation. Meanwhile, Savannah Guthrie and the rest of her family are still holding onto hope. In her latest video posted to social media, she appealed directly to her mother's captor, saying, quote, it's never too late to do the right thing. A high school hockey tournament in Rhode island was the site of a mass shooting yesterday. Fox News credits a source with ATF who said a gunman shot his wife and three children before turning the gun on himself. A family friend was apparently also involved. A local sports editor says one father at the game wrestled the gun out of the shooter's hands, but the shooter had a second weapon. Investigators are still trying to piece together exactly what happened. Meanwhile, the state is now ramping up mental health support for anyone who may be impacted. There is now a growing amount of evidence to suggest Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny was murdered in prison and did not die of natural causes as the Russian government has claimed. The UK France, Germany, Sweden and the Netherlands put out a statement over the weekend to explain what European labs learned from samples taken from Navalny's body. They apparently detected a rare and lethal toxin that's found in the skin of poison dart frogs from South America. The substance can also be produced in a lab by a country with advanced chemical capabilities like Russia. The European allies said Russia had the means, motive and opportunity to do it. The Russian government dismissed the theory, though, saying it was just meant to distract from more pressing problems in the West. It was already widely suspected Navalny's death was a state sponsored murder, though the US Was not involved in the most recent forensic testing. But Secretary of State Marco Rubio says he's aware of the findings and has no reason to question them. Today, three holidays from different cultures and regions are overlapping. For starters, Ramadan is expected to begin this evening. It's the holiest month of the Islamic calendar. It's marked by a period of fasting, prayer, reflection and community. Also today, it's the Lunar New Year. Billions of people in east and Southeast Asia celebrate the lunar New Year based on the cycles of the moon. Each new year gets an animal sign from the Chinese zodiac. And 2026 is the Chinese year of the fire horse. And finally today is Mardi Gras, aka Fat Tuesday. It's the last day before the 40 day fasting period known as Lent begins tomorrow. Of course, New Orleans is the hub for today's celebrations in the US with parades, balls, music, food and lots of parties. But cities all over the world take part. More news ahead in just a moment. But first I'm excited to tell you about our sponsor Home Chef. This time of year, when it's cold and dark by dinnertime, all I want is something warm, comforting and easy for my family. And that's why I'm excited to be using Home Chef for home cooked meals without the hassle. I love all the options from easy oven ready meals to hearty satisfying recipes that still feel pretty effortless and even quick microwave lunches if you want. There's even a dedicated family menu for easy 4 or 6 serving dinners so you get to choose what's right for you. And no matter what you're getting meals that taste great, people really love it. Home Chef is rated number one by users of other meal kits for quality, convenience, value, taste and recipe ease. My latest box has a mix, for example a meal kit to make their idiot proof crispy peanut chicken sandwich with pickled cucumber ribbons and Sriracha mayo. Then I also got oven ready pecan crusted salmon with bacon Rockefeller mashed potatoes that requires very little prep. It's all delicious and for a limited time, Home Chef is offering my listeners 50% off and free shipping for your first box, plus free dessert for life. Go to homechef.comnewsworthy that's homechef.comnewsworthy for 50% off your first box and free dessert for life. Homechef.comnewsworthy must be an active subscriber to receive free dessert. Now back to the news. California is dealing with powerful storms after weeks of dry, warm weather. A couple of storm systems started over the weekend and should last through at least tomorrow, bringing intense rain in lower elevations and heavy snow in the mountains. Southern California got the brunt of it yesterday. Roadways were drenched and some trees were toppled. But the greatest impact is expected to be across Northern California today, specifically in the western side of the Sierra Nevada and in areas around Lake Tahoe. Forecasters say snowfall totals could reach four to eight feet, while a foot may even fall at lower elevations. People have been reminded even though the rain and snow could be hazardous, it's also expected to be helpful for the state's water needs. Former President Obama sparked a lot of buzz over a recent podcast interview. During a lightning round of questions with host Brian Tyler Cohen, Obama was asked, are aliens real? The former president answered in part quote, they're real, but I haven't seen them. Well, that very quickly went viral, so Obama has since clarified. He said that because statistically the universe is so vast, there are good odds that there's life out there. But also the distances between solar systems are also so wide that there's not much chance Earth has actually gotten any alien visitors. To put it another way, he stated, quote, I saw no evidence during my presidency that extraterrestrials have made contact with us. The federal government is leaning on big tech in hopes of unmasking Americans who criticize Immigration and Customs Enforcement. As the New York Times reports, the Homeland Security Department has sent hundreds of subpoenas to companies like Google, Meta, Reddit and Discord. They're reportedly requesting the names, email addresses, telephone numbers, and other identifying data behind accounts that track or criticize ice. The Times says Google, Meta and Reddit have complied with some of those requests. Most companies declined to comment, but Google explains, saying it reviews every legal demand and pushes back against those that go overboard. The company also says most of the time it tells users when their accounts have been subpoenaed. Still, protesters have launched an effort called Resist and Unsubscribe, targeting Google, Meta and other tech companies they see as being especially supportive of ice. Amazon is also on that list. It was just a few months ago that Amazon owned Ring announced a partnership with Flock. Flock is a security software company that feeds information like license plate numbers to law enforcement agencies. Ring was planning to integrate it into its community requests feature that lets law enforcement request video footage from users for investigations. And the ACLU has said ICE has access to all of that. So there's been backlash. Well, Ring now says it's parted ways with Flock Safety. The company did not blame the backlash, though it explained by saying it just realized the integration would require more time and resources than anticipated. Tributes are now pouring in for an Oscar winning actor whose career spanned nearly seven decades. Robert Duvall died at 95 years old at his home in Virginia. He starred in classics like the Godfather, M A S H, Apocalypse Now, Lonesome Dove, the Great Santini, and so on. In announcing his death, Duvall's wife wrote in part, quote, for each of his many roles, Bob gave everything to his characters and the truth of the human spirit they represented. Many more of his colleagues and famous friends have also honored Duvall's life and legacy with statements and stories of their own. Basketball icon Michael Jordan's 23 Xi Racing earned its first win at what's known as the Great American Race. We're talking about Daytona 500, considered the ultimate prize of the NASCAR season. 23:11 Driver Tyler Reddick was the one who actually took the checkered flag on Sunday, which was also a first for him. It's a big turnaround for a team that's been dealing with an off track legal dispute with NASCAR's governing body. Though. Remember, they settled their antitrust lawsuit a couple of months ago and now with that in the rear view, Jordan and the rest of the team are starting a new era in the best way possible. Well, this weekend brought a full range of Olympic drama for Team usa, from victory to heartbreak and even a little bit of controversy. We'll start with ice hockey. At this point, both the American men and American women are undefeated at the Milan Cortina Olympics in speed skating, Jordan Stoles won another gold medal and broke another Olympic record, his second in just four days. He's actually only the second American man to win gold in both the 550 and 1000 meters at the same Winter Games, and now he's hoping to do the same with the 1500 meters on Thursday. But another heavily promoted American athlete faced a big setback over the weekend. Figure skater Ilya Malinin, AKA the Quad God, was heavily favored to win the men's figure skating event, but his performance was not up to his usual standard. He fell twice, along with other mistakes and ended up placing eighth. Yesterday, he addressed the disappointment, saying his crash was inevitable in the face of insurmountable pressure and online hatred. There was also some Olympic controversy involving a couple of Team USA skaters. Madison Chalk and Evan Bates were highly favored to win their ice dance competition and they delivered an exceptional performance. Then it was a French team's turn. The French skaters also had a strong showing, but did have some slight mistakes. In the end, the gold medal went to France. A lot of public scrutiny followed and there were calls to challenge the results, especially when it came out that the biggest point differential came from a French judge and there was speculation she purposely favored her home country's team. But in the end, Team USA decided not to challenge the results, saying it wouldn't be good for the sport while also calling for more clarity in judging moving forward. Things really turned around for Team USA last night, though, when bobsledder Lana Meyers Taylor won gold. At 41, she became the oldest American woman to take home the top prize at the Winter Games. Of course, those are just a few highlights out of a ton of Olympic action, and there's a lot more still to come. That's it for the main news today. So now it's time for Trivia Tuesday, when we ask a different trivia question every week. But first, this episode is brought to you by Oneskin. I love the simplicity of my one skin routine along with knowing that it's actually effective making my skin feel and look great. All of One Skin's products are designed to layer seamlessly or replace multiple steps in your routine, which in my experience makes skin health easier and smarter. When something is easy, I'm more likely to actually do it. I use One Skin's face, eye and lip products every day and let me tell you, I haven't had to deal with dry skin or cracked lips at all this winter. Even when I travel on an airplane or go somewhere super dry, one night of using my OS1 lip mask will solve chapped lips quickly. Born from over a decade of longevity research, OneSkin's OS1 peptide is proven to target the visible signs of aging, helping you unlock your healthiest skin now and as you age. For a limited time, try OneSkin with 15% off using code NEWSWORTHY at OneSkin co. NEWSWORTHY. That's 15% off OneSkin co with the Code Newsworthy and after your purchase they'll ask you where you heard about them. So please support our show and tell them we sent you okay, now back to Trivia Tuesday and today's trivia question is where is the oldest city in the U.S. listen again next Tuesday for the answer and explanation. As for last week's trivia question, who has won gold in both the Winter and Summer Olympic Games? The answer is Eddie Egan, who competed for Team USA. First it was the 1920 Summer Games when he won gold in boxing. Then 12 years later, he won gold in bobsled at the 1932 Winter Games. His accomplishments didn't end there either. Egan also graduated from Yale University and Harvard Law School. He was named a Rhodes Scholar and studied at the University of Oxford. Plus, Egan served in the US army and started his own law practice. Thank you so much for joining us to get caught up on the news today. Be back tomorrow with the latest news to know. Until then, have a great day.